American judge
For other people named Robert Quinn, see
Bob Quinn
.
Robert E. Quinn
|
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In office
June 20, 1951 ? 1971
|
President
| Harry Truman
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Preceded by
| (none)
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Succeeded by
| William H. Darden
|
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|
In office
June 20, 1951 ? 1971
|
Appointed by
| Harry S. Truman
|
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Preceded by
| (none)
|
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Succeeded by
| Matthew J. Perry
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|
In office
January 5, 1937 ? January 3, 1939
|
Lieutenant
| Raymond E. Jordan
|
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Preceded by
| Theodore F. Green
|
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Succeeded by
| William Henry Vanderbilt III
|
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|
In office
January 3, 1933 ? January 5, 1937
|
Governor
| Theodore F. Green
|
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Preceded by
| James G. Connolly
|
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Succeeded by
| Raymond E. Jordan
|
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|
In office
1923?1925
1929?1933
|
|
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Born
| Robert Emmet Quinn
(
1894-04-02
)
April 2, 1894
Phenix
,
Rhode Island
,
U.S.
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Died
| May 19, 1975
(1975-05-19)
(aged 81)
Kent Nursing Home, Warwick, Rhode Island, U.S.
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Resting place
| Quinn Family Cemetery
West Warwick, Rhode Island
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Political party
| Democratic
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Spouse
| Mary Ide Carter Quinn
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Parent(s)
| Charles Quinn
Mary Ann (McCabe) Quinn
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Alma mater
| Brown University
Harvard Law School
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Profession
| Attorney
Politician
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Branch/service
| United States Foreign Service
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Years of service
| 1917-1919
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Battles/wars
| World War I
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Robert Emmet Quinn
(April 2, 1894 ? May 19, 1975) was an American
attorney
and
politician
from
Rhode Island
. He served as the 58th
Governor of Rhode Island
and Judge for the
Rhode Island Superior Court
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Quinn was born in 1894 in
Phenix, Rhode Island
, the son of Charles Quinn and Mary Ann (McCabe) Quinn.
[1]
He graduated from
Brown University
in 1915, and completed his law degree from
Harvard Law School
in 1918. He served in the
United States Foreign Service
during
World War I
as a member of the U.S. Diplomatic Intelligence Service in England and France.
[2]
After he left the Foreign Service in 1919, he practiced law with his uncle in Rhode Island.
Political career
[
edit
]
He began his political career as a
Democrat
in the
Rhode Island Senate
serving from 1923 to 1925 and again from 1929 to 1933. In 1932 he was elected
Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
and served from 1933 to 1937. He served as governor from 1937 to 1939.
State Senate
[
edit
]
Quinn entered the Rhode Island Senate in 1923 as one of a trio of young
progressive
politicians, a group which included Governor
William S. Flynn
and Lt. Governor
Felix A. Toupin
. Their agenda of reform included a 48-hour work week and an end to property qualifications for voting in city council elections. The Republican-controlled state senate blocked these reforms, and the 1923 and 1924 sessions were spent mostly in deadlock.
[3]
Finally, in June 1924, Quinn and Lt. Governor Toupin came up with a desperate plan: they would stage a marathon multi-day filibuster.
[3]
[4]
Toupin read from "
Hamlet
" and the
Encyclopædia Britannica
, in hopes that enough exhausted Republicans would leave the chamber, giving Democrats the majority they needed to pass the measure.
[3]
By June 19, Republicans had had enough, and sent a Boston gangster to set off a
bromine gas
bomb in the Senate chamber.
[4]
Quinn and Toupin were unhurt, but the entire Republican delegation fled the chamber, and indeed fled the state.
[4]
The Senate was then unable to form a quorum to get anything done.
[4]
The
Providence Journal
blamed the gas attack on the Democrats, who lost widely in November 1924.
[4]
Lieutenant governor
[
edit
]
Quinn was elected lieutenant governor in 1932 and re-elected in 1934.
[
citation needed
]
"Bloodless Revolution"
[
edit
]
As the president of the
Rhode Island Senate
, Quinn was a key actor during the "
Bloodless Revolution
" on January 1, 1935. Using his power as the presiding officer, he prevented two Republican state senators from being seated and eventually enabled a Democratic majority to be formed in the Senate, the first time this had happened since the Civil War.
[
citation needed
]
Governor
[
edit
]
He was nominated for governorship of Rhode Island when incumbent Governor
Theodore Francis Green
chose to run for a seat in the
United States Senate
.
He held the governor's office from January 5, 1937, to January 3, 1939. During his administration, Quinn advocated a
merit system
for state workers, a personal
income tax
, and exemption for the poor from
real estate taxes
. Nicknamed "Fighting Bob", he set up a battle known as the "Race Track War" against the highly successful Thoroughbred racing venue
Narragansett Park
in 1937.
[5]
From the first incident on September 2, the "War" would not be resolved until October 16. The National Guard was called out and men with machine guns blocked the front entrance to the track.
Time Magazine
reported the story nationwide in October 1937.
[6]
Quinn won in the short-term, as Walter O'Hara was removed from his post as president and manager of the Narragansett Racing Association, and Judge James E. Dooley officially took control of the track. Quinn was unsuccessful in his re-election bid in 1938 when he lost to millionaire
William Henry Vanderbilt III
, a brother to
Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt Jr.
who was a major figure in Thoroughbred racing. Ultimately, the "Race Track War" was considered a national embarrassment.
[7]
Superior Court
[
edit
]
Quinn returned to his law practice after leaving the governor's office. He won appointment to a Superior Court judgeship in 1941, serving as judge for the
Rhode Island Superior Court
. During
World War II
, he entered the military as a commander in the
navy
's legal branch. He served for four years, rising to the rank of
captain
.
[2]
He returned to the bench after the end of the war.
United States Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
[
edit
]
On May 22, 1951
[8]
he was nominated by
President Truman
as Chief Judge of a new
United States Court of Military Appeals
. He was confirmed by the Senate June 19, and was sworn the next day, June 20 of 1951. He was reappointed to his position as Chief Justice by President
Johnson
for another 15-year term, but he retired from that in 5 years in 1971. He fully retired from the court in 1975, shortly before his death.
In 1964 he was awarded the first honorary life membership by the
Federal Bar Association
, and in 1966 he was elected to the Rhode Island Hall of Fame.
[9]
Death
[
edit
]
Quinn died on May 19, 1975, at age 81 in a nursing home in Warwick. He is interred at Quinn Family Cemetery in West Warwick.
[10]
Family life
[
edit
]
In 1923, Quinn married Mary Carter. They had five children including Norma Marie, Robert Carter, Pauline, Cameron Peter and Penelope Dorr.
References
[
edit
]
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Sobel, Robert and John Raimo.
Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978
. Greenwood Press, 1988;
ISBN
0-313-28093-2
External links
[
edit
]